I assume you read my post a few weeks ago titled "Curveball" regarding the unexpected passing of my grandmother. I guess things good and bad tend to come in three's, so here's the rest of the trio. #2-An aunt of mine (my mother's sister Kathy) passed away of a ruptured aortic aneurysm. My mother's family has a history of high blood pressure, and her grandmother had an aneurysm which never ruptured. My aunt also smoked. Regardless of these factors, nobody (including my aunt) knew she had the aneurysm, so needless to say, her passing was quite unexpected. Please keep our family in your prayers as we cope with yet another loss. #3-Ryan was laid off. This one was really a blessing in disguise as he quickly got another job where hopefully his talents can be utilized more. It's essentially the same position, but he should be able to teach more and really work with the club members more instead of manning a counter for most of the day. And the BEST part...it's back in Fort Worth instead of Houston! That means we are officially working on moving back! I cannot express how happy this makes me. We are so very excited about this.
Now, we also got some very good news from our vet regarding Mav. Late last year, I felt a mass along his ribcage. Being medical-minded, I decided to monitor the mass to see if it was growing, or if it just popped up and would stay the same size. Plus, I knew the first questions the vet would ask are: how long has it been there, is it growing, and is it painful to him. As it turns out, the mass was growing. It wasn't overnight, but I could tell a good difference each month when I measured it. We went to our primary vet here, who was not much help. His suggestion was: remove it or don't. Now, after having worked in oncology and having access to the medical technology I do, I know there are more options than that. I asked for a referral to a veterinary oncologist for a second opinion, and he flipped on me. I essentially bruised his ego, which rendered him useless now. So I attempted to get in with the best oncologist I could find, which proved to be about impossible. They wanted a referral, I couldn't get a referral out of my egotistical ex-vet and no other vet had seen the mass. Besides, I know more about the dog and his current condition than any vet we've ever seen does. And I don't mean that in a rude way, but we have moved around so much, that Mav hasn't seen the same vet more than twice. I have kept detailed records of his visits, can provide vaccination information, and have more info about this mass and its evolution than anyone cares to know. I worked through their referral requirement with my own means. Then, there was scheduling. They aren't open on weekends. They said they could get me in within the week, and couldn't. Any time I called for an appointment, she was either booked up or out of the office. They said they close at 5, but don't take new patients after 2...then it was no new patients after 1. Considering I'd have to leave work, drive 45 minutes home to get Mav, then drive 40 minutes to the vet...this begins to turn into an all day event. Plus, Ryan was reasonably apprehensive to take him in without me. So...we decided to pursue other options. I got a recommendation from my friend Stefanie on a good primary vet in the area. We went in on a Saturday. He examined Mav and even did a needle aspiration on-site with a cytological evaluation. All of this said and done, he was pretty comfortable that the mass was another lipoma (Mav has a few of these already), and we agreed on no further intervention at this time. I will monitor it and make sure Mav isn't inhibited or in pain, and we will just keep a close eye on it/him. That's probably the very best news we could have asked for. :)
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